During the late evening of 9th May 1944 the crew of this 1658 Heavy Conversion Unit aircraft undertook a series of short flights with an instructor in the aircraft, this basic training exercise involved flying circuits of the airfield at Riccall and practicing landings. The first series of these flights were made with an instructor on board who would assess that the crew were capable of flying the routine training flight, with the crew deemed capable he would then allow the crew to fly the same short flights without him being on board. At just after midnight the aircraft appears to have successfully landed at Riccall and the instructor left the aircraft, giving the trainee crew the instructions that they were to fly the same series of circuits and landing exercise with the him being present. The crew flew two successful circuits of the airfield and landed without incident. At 01.00hrs on 10th May 1944 they took off from Riccall airfield to undertake a further circuit of the airfield but two minutes later the aircraft had not managed to gain any height and flew directly over Selby. The resulting crash was one of the worst in terms of loss of civilian life to occur during the whole war in Yorkshire. At 01.02hrs the Halifax struck the spire of St.James Church and began to immediately break up, it crashed through the junction of Portholme Road and Union Lane, through the roof of Portholme Mill, then over the lane that runs between Union Lane and Portholme Drive and hit the ground around the area of the dividing fence between No.22 and No.24 Portholme Road. It then skidded across the back gardens of houses on Portholme Road before ploughing into the back of No.30 and No.32 Portholme Drive, demolishing both houses and partly destroying No.34. A large fire broke out and further damaged other houses. St.James Church also sustained serious damage caused by the falling spire, parts of the aircraft and also by water from a hydraulic bell ringing system. Other houses and a school in the path of the aircraft also sustained damage either by parts from the falling church or by parts of the aircraft. No firm conclusion was gained from the investigation into the accident, it was thought possible that a mechanical failure may have occurred as to have prevented the aircraft from climbing after taking off though evidence for this was not found.
As a result of the accident all seven trainee aircrew died. A night watchman who was inside the burning Portholme Mill died soon after of his injuries, a young mother and her daughter died in No.32 Portholme Drive and in No.30 Portholme Drive a father, mother and two of their young children sadly lost their lives. In total fifteen people died. To date I have found details of some of the injured whom I list below. Perhaps the most remarkable story of survival is that of young Jean Osbourn; her parents and two siblings were killed in the crash but she appears to have been blown out of a bedroom window in the crash and into her garden, she then managed to run around to the front of the house and sustained very few physical injuries. She later emigrated to Canada. I thank her for contacting me during the early stages of my research. Other members of the family living in No.34 Portholme Drive managed to escape from upstairs windows as did others from either/or No.28 and No.36 Portholme Drive. These photographs show the crash scene at the back of the houses on Portholme Drive with the damaged church shown in the top photograph.
Pilot - F/Sgt Thomas Roy Laver RAAF (426752), aged 21, of Toogoolawah, Queensland, Australia. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire (B/C/5).
Flight Engineer - Sgt Derrick McDermott RAFVR (1111437), aged 21, of Wakefield, Yorkshire. Buried Selby Cemetery, Yorkshire (Grave 5317).
Navigator - Sgt Peter Hilary Rockingham RAFVR (1622397), aged 21, of Birkenhead. Buried Selby Cemetery (Grave 5351).
Bomb Aimer - F/Sgt Bernard Kevin Storer RAAF (426702), aged 21, of Maryborough, Queensland, Australia. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire (B/C/3).
Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - F/Sgt Noel Joseph Knight RAAF (423420), aged 21, of Kensington, New South Wales, Australia. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire (B/C/2).
Air Gunner - F/Sgt John Roper RAAF (424822), aged 20, of Waverley, New South Wales, Australia. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire (B/C/1).
Air Gunner - F/O John Russell Dixon RAAF (434607), aged 25, of Eagle Junction, Queensland, Australia. Buried Harrogate Stonefall Cemetery, Yorkshire (B/C/4).
Civilian - Mr William Henry Osbourn, aged 38, of 30 Portholme Drive, Selby. Died of injuries. Buried Whitwood Cemetery, Castleford, Yorkshire (Plot C/ Grave 475). Unmarked double grave (next to RILEY).
Civilian - Mrs Doris Osbourn, aged 37 of 30 Portholme Drive, Selby. Buried Whitwood Cemetery, Castleford, Yorkshire (Plot C/ Grave 476). Unmarked double grave (next to RILEY).
Civilian - Master Brian Osbourn, aged 11 of 30 Portholme Drive, Selby. Buried Whitwood Cemetery, Castleford, Yorkshire (Plot C/ Grave 475). Unmarked double grave (next to RILEY).
Civilian - Miss Patricia Osbourn, aged 6, of 30 Portholme Drive, Selby. Buried Whitwood Cemetery, Castleford, Yorkshire (Plot C/ Grave 476). Unmarked double grave (next to RILEY).
Civilian - Mrs Edith Eleanor Calvert, aged 43, of No.32 Portholme Drive, Selby. Buried Selby Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Civilian - Miss Jean Calvert, aged 10, of No.32 Portholme Drive, Selby. Buried Selby Cemetery, Yorkshire.
Civilian - Mr James Mather, aged 63, of No.34 Portholme Drive, Selby. Buried Selby Cemetery, Yorkshire?
Civilian - (Night-watchman) Mr James Sayner, aged 65, of Chapel Street, Hambleton. Died of injuries. Buried Hambleton Cemetery, Yorkshire?
Civilian - Mr A W Robinson, of No.34 Portholme Drive, Selby. Cuts and burns.
Civilian - Mrs Robinson, of No.34 Portholme Drive, Selby. Badly burnt (daughter of Mr James Mather).
Civilian - Mrs Myra Coutts, of No.34 Portholme Drive, Selby. Burns (daughter of Mrs Robinson).
Civilian - Baby David Coutts, of No.34 Portholme Drive, Selby. Thrown from window and caught in a blanket by neighbours.
Civilian - Mrs Morgan. Of Portholme Drive, Selby. Minor burns.
Civilian - Mrs Ward. Of Portholme Drive, Selby. Minor burns.
Civilian - Master Michael Ward. Of Portholme Drive, Selby. Shock.
Civilian - Mr Mark Pilsworth. Of 36? Portholme Drive, Selby. Injured hands while breaking windows to escape his burning house.
Civilian - Mrs Pilsworth. Of 36? Portholme Drive, Selby. Uninjured.
Civilian - Master Bernard Calvert, of No.32 Portholme Drive, Selby. Jumped through front window. Uninjured.
Civilian - Master Gordon Calvert, of No.32 Portholme Drive, Selby. Jumped through front window. Uninjured.
Halifax JB789 was built to contract ACFT/1808/C4 by English Electric Company Ltd. at Samlesbury and was flown to 18 M.U. at Dumfries on 1st March 1943. On 4th May 1943 the aircraft was taken on charge by 158 Squadron at Lissett and carried the squadron code "NP-X". As a result of overshooting on landing at Linton on Ouse on 22nd May 1943 Cat.A/FA damage was the assessment and this saw a repair on site being made. The aircraft was returned to 158 Squadron charge in June 1943 but was re-coded "NP-V". On 19th September 1943 the aircraft was transferred to 1658 Heavy Conversion Unit at Riccall. On 10th May 1944 it flew into the spire of St.James Church, Selby and crashed killing a number of civilians. The aircraft was destroyed, with Cat.E2/FA damage being the damage assessment. The aircraft was then struck off charge on 17th May 1944.
On 1st November 1953 a memorial plaque was unveiled in St.James Church, Selby and a seventieth anniversary service was held in the church in 2014. I strongly suspect that there are still many people in the Selby area who recall the events of this night, this account may not be as complete as it could be and I welcome any addition, correction or input from anyone who was there.
The front of the houses on Portholme Drive that clearly show where they were rebuilt or repaired which I took in 2014.
Thomas Laver was born on 5th November 1922 at Toogoolawah, Queensland, Australia and was the son of Samuel Henry and Isabella Mathews Laver. He enlisted for RAAF service in Brisbane on 18th July 1942 and after basic training in Australia he left for service overseas on 25th May 1943.
Bernard Storer was born on 6th March 1923 at Maryborough, Queensland, Australia and was the son of John and Ethel Dulcemore (nee Butcher) Storer. As a young man he was a school teacher. He enlisted for RAAF Service in Brisbane on 18th July 1942 and after training was awarded his air navigators' flying badge on 26th March 1943. He left for service in UK in May 1943 and the sailing to the UK took six weeks. On arrival in the UK he trained at 10 (O)AFU and 20 OTU before posting to 1658 HCU on 28th March 1944.
Noel Knight was born on 14th August 1922 at Waverley, New South Wales, Australia and was the son of Henry Joseph and Elbie Ruth Knight. As a young man he worked as a linotype apprentice for a newspaper company in Sydney. He enlisted for RAAF service in Sydney on 22nd June 1942 and after training was awarded the wireless operator part of his flying badge on 3rd March 1943 followed by the air gunners part on 1st April 1943. He sailed for the UK soon after. On arrival in the UK he trained at 10 (O)AFU and 20 OTU before posting to 1658 HCU on 28th March 1944 with the rest of this crew.
John Roper was born on 4th November 1923 at Waverley, New South Wales, Australia and was the son of Herbert Charles and Nellie Wyalong (nee Thom) Roper. As a young man he worked as a bank clerk. He enlisted for RAAF service in Sydney on 9th October 1942, after basic training as an air gunner in Australia he was awarded an air gunners' flying badge on 16th September 1943 and then left for service overseas on 27th September 1943. On arrival in the UK he trained at 20 OTU before posting to 1658 HCU on 28th March 1944.
John Dixon was born on 4th October 1918 at Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. He enlisted for RAAF service in Sydney.
The graves of the two RAF members of this crew who were buried in Selby Cemetery.